we ran out of time for the ridiculist tonight. i'm so sorry. that does it for this edition of 360. thank you very much for watching.

"early start" begins right now. i think right now it has to be the safest school in america. >> back to class. the students of sandy hook elementary return to school this morning, but it won't be the one they remember. >> fresh faces, same problems. members of the new congress take their oath of office hours from now. and speaker boehner finds out if he keeps his leadership job. >> 66 days and counting. shame on you. shame on congress. >> and political war. new jersey's tough-talking governor explodes at the leaders of his own party. good morning to you. welcome to "early start," thanks for being with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans. it's 5:00 a.m. in the east. >> newtown, connecticut this morning, backpacks are being

filled with books, tiny teeth are being brushed, and the students of sandy hook elementary school are preparing to return to class for the first time since a gunman took 20 of their friends and their innocence as well. debra feyerick is near the new sandy hook school. it's in monroe, connecticut. hour is everybody faring there? >> you know, it's a very tough day. you know, people are ready. they're as ready as they'll ever be after a tragedy like this. they want to resume the normal rhythm of their lives. they want to go to class, to work to sports events. they want to get back into the routine. normal will really be the word of the day. that's one of the reasons we're a couple miles from the school. the last thing officials want is a huge media presence around that building while these children are getting off the school bus. they want it to be a new school, a new adventure. we spoke with several parts an their kids.

>> reporter: ben and ethan heard the gunshots and screams that horrible morning at sandy hook elementary school. three weeks is not nearly enough time to understand the feelings they've experienced since then, fear, worry, anger. still the 9-year-olds are trying. >> it's a healing shawl. it's supposed to heal us. >> reporter: going back to school this week is a big part of that healing. >> are you guys looking forward to going back to school? >> we just went there today to visit it and look at everything. it's very -- it's a very interesting school. >> reporter: originally for teens, the school in monroe has been transformed for k through 4th grade. toys, cubbies, carpets and familiar things brought over from sandy hook, elementary. >> all of our desks are there. my desk, i noticed someone was in there, cleaned it -- not cleaned it, made it neater. because my desk is usually very

messy. >> i think them getting on the bus is, for us a move forward. a lot of us are look at that as this is the next step. now it's getting back to a routine, getting them to school so they get back to that normalcy, start learning again. be who they are. >> reporter: ben and ethan want the school turtle to be sandy hook's new mascot. >> our motto, it's one step at a time. >> reporter: it's also one step of a time for moms and good friends denise and sarah and their daughters. >> there's no real play book for this. i don't think any of us have a playbook. we're kind of sensing our child and trying to meet the needs we can. >> reporter: counselors will be on hand for the children and parents can spend the day at the school, just in case. >> i joked with one of the other moms, i'll see you in the morning, i'll bring you coffee. i think i need that adult time, too.

i don't know if i'm totally ready to let them go yet. my peace has been shattered. >> reporter: sarah and denise they say they don't want to be defined by this tragedy. they want to be defined for how they came together as a community, how they healed, and maybe they will make changes in the gun laws. but things are different. you saw ben and ethan there. ethan was very sweet. he said i used to be afraid of monsters. now i'm afraid that somebody will come that shouldn't be there. things have changed. >> i have to tell you, it's great to see ben and ethan laughing the way they are. to know the school is allowing the parents to come in and stay if they need do that. is it a regular school day for the kids today? >> yep. for the most part the kids will be getting used to the whole building. they did have orientations and open houses, the kids have been there. you heard ben say he saw his desk and somebody straightened it up. they actually moved the actual

desks to the new school. it will be as normal as possible. for a number of kids, they said it's like an adventure, getting to the new school. there's two floors, not just one. little things like that. they'll get used to it but they'll know it's different. >> it's nice to know they brought the desks over and are trying to keep some normalcy there. new year, new congress. in just a few hours, the 113th congress will be sworn in on capitol hill. there will be plenty of new faces. 18 freshman senators, republicans remain in charge of the house and the gop will decide if house speaker john boehner gets to keep his gavel. boehner drew the wrath of democrats and republicans for canceling the house vote on a superstorm sandy relief bill. the senator has now scheduled the first of two votes for

tomorrow. >> bottom line is that we are now receiving what we asked for. as far as i'm concerned, what's done is done. i always considered john boehner a friend, which made it more painful for me to say what i had to say. i owed it to my constituents, and i felt that new york was being taken advantage of. >> the house will vote tomorrow on $9 billion in sandy aid it will consider another $51 billion in aid later this month. we know new jersey was one of the states hardest hit by sandy, and perhaps no one was more vocal in the delay of funding than chris christie. >> is only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. new york deserves better than the selfishness we saw on display last night. new jersey deserves better than

the duplicity that we saw last night. america deserves better than just another example of a government who forgot who they are there to serve and why. >> christie said he was given no credible reason for the holdup. after all the debate, the drama from washington, the bill that kept us from going off the fiscal cliff is now law. talk about an anticlimax. with the first family in hawaii, the measure was signed with an auto pen back in washington. it preserved tax cuts for more than 98% of americans. new battles over dtaxes and spending await washington. and mitch mcconnell may be throwing down the gauntlet for a showdown with the president over spending. he said now the conversation turns to cutting spending on government programs that are the real source of the nation's fiscal imbalance.

the upcoming debate on the debt limb is the perfected time to have that discuss. the president may not want to have a fight about government spending over the next few months, but it's a fight he will have because it's a debate the country needs. secretary of state hillary clinton has been discharged after suffering a blood clot. she was accompanied by her husband, former president clinton, and their daughter chelsea. in a statement the state department said clinton's medical team advised her that she is make going progress on all fronts and they are confident she'll make a full recovery. >> pakistani intelligence officials say an important taliban commander was among 15 people killed in two suspected u.s. drone attacks in a volatile region of pakistan. that commander was said to be at odds with the pakistani taliban over the peace agreement he signed with the government in 2007. as part of the deal he refused to attack pakistani military tar

goats, but he is believed to be behind a number of attacks that attacked the u.s. military. two of his deputies were believed to be killed in that strike. the u.n. estimates that the death toll in syria is now beyond 60,000. 15,000 higher than estimates cnn had gone with. and that number will likely continue to rise as attacks like these persist. an opposition group says 207 people were killed in war-related violence yesterday alone. most of them in damascus and suburbs, others in aleppo. cnn cannot independently verify these numbers. the family of james foley, missing in syria since new year's day, is launching a public campaign to find him. global post, a news website foley published for, said he was driving to the border with turkey when he was intercepted by a car. he was forced out of the vehicle

by two armed men. he has not been seen or heard from since. no one has claimed responsibility. last year 28 journalists died covering the conflict from inside syria. families of victims of the movie theater massacre in aurora, colorado call it a disgusting offer. they are fur furious over a remembrance ceremony. one of the 12 people killed died saving his girlfriend. his cousin says the theater is thinking about ticket sales, and not them. >> that is a blatant lack of respect for the families. they're looking to boost their own ticket sales for the grand reopening to the public. >> at the expense. >> at the expense of 12 families who are heart broken at a loss.

>> blunk's girlfriend plans on going, saying she won't let the bad guy win. aurora's mayor says for some the reopening may be painful but it may help others heal. a 6-year-old maryland boy gets suspended from school after making a hand gesture officials deemed a threat. we'll tell you what he did and why his parents have now lawyered up. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people. thank you, america. helping people recover and rebuild -- that's what we do. now let's bring on tomorrow.

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it is 14 minutes past the hour. let's get you up to date. the 113th congress will be sworn in today at noon eastern time. even with new faces in both the house and senate, the new congress will need to pick up where the 112th left off. it must confront the federal debt ceiling and deal with the deep spending cuts called for in those fiscal cliff negotiations. with a deep desire for normalcy, students from connecticut's sandy hook elementary school returned to class today, the first time

since the december 14th massacre in newtown. they'll gather in a middle school in nearby monroe that has been outfitted to look like sandy hook down to the desks, bulletin boards, cubbies and security is a top priority. >> i think right now it has to be the safest school in america. we have many different options in place. most of monroe schools were already monitored at the police department with cameras. we actually installed numerous different security devices at this school. we will remain, our presence on location, until further notice. the mass shooting killed 20 children and six adults. the online publication of this map by a suburban new york city newspaper led that paper to ironically hire armed guards. after the connecticut school massacre, the journal news posted the locations of licensed gun owners in two nearby counties it is shown by all of those dots there. one gun-owning blogger was so offended that in response he

posted the home addresses of newspaper staffers. seeking a larger voice in the u.s., the arab news network al jazeera has bought current tv, the cable tv channel that al gore co-founded. it will launch a new channel in its place. the network is based in qatar and financed about i that country's government. patti page has died. page hit the big time after hits like "tennessee waltz" and "how much is that doggie in the window." she became her own backup singer on records. did you know that? patti page was 85 years old. in st. louis a firefighter is a dog's best friend. the pooch had fallen into an icy lake. this was a city park lake where the water was four feet deep.

dan hill got the call because he's so tall. the water did not come up so high to him. he put on his waders, brought the shivering dog back. the dog should be okay. >> and the firefighter is fine as well. fabulous. 17 minutes past the hour, it's time for early reads. first from the washington examiner, a 6-year-old student in montgomery county, maryland was suspended for school for allegedly threatening a classmate, look at that, with a pretend gunshot. school officials say he made a gun gesture with his hands, pointed it at another student and said pow. >> it happened days after the sandy hook elementary school shooting. he was give an one-day suspension. the school calls this a serious incident. supporters of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in illinois will try again to get the measure through the state senate. they fell two votes short yesterday of getting a hearing

on the measure. civil unions in illinois have been legal for 18 months. if the bill is passed, illinois would be the tenth state to approve same-sex marriage. investors are encouraged to wear bowties in support of the day marriage bill. >> for more on the top stories go to our blog, cnn.com/earlystart. coming up, starbucks wants to stop making so much trash. will their new product catch on? ♪ [ slap! ] [ slap! slap! slap! slap! ] ow! ow! [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fast with tums.

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listen to this, starting today starbucks will see reusable plastic cups. they will cost you a dollar a piece. customer also receive a 10 cent

discount every time they use it to buy a drink. starbucks has been criticized over the volume of paper waste in its cups produced. the chain sold reusable cups before, but they believe this new low price for the reusable cup will actually spark new customer interest. i'm a little concerned about this because i lose my cups all the time. i wonder if that extra incentive that they'll give me ten cents off my drink will make me keep track of it. >> and the convenience of getting a cup of coffee, it's a throw-away experience. it's a green company, but the volume of cups they put into the environment. it's been a tough nut for them to crack. >> i'll give it a good try and see what happens. we are mining your business this morning. a very strong day for the markets yesterday. everybody excited. the dow gained 308 points or about 2.4% on the news of the fiscal cliff deal. >> i think we will see it come off a bit today. that was such a big rally, after

a big move like that, you often see stocks pull back. that's what we're expecting this morning, futures are down. dow futures down about 20 points now. investor enthusiasm over that fiscal cliff deal is expected to be short-lived. also you have a bunch of other cliff-like deadlines approaching. the debt ceiling, deep spending cuts and a continuing budget resolution that has to be done by the end of march. wall street's biggest problem here on out is washington. that's what most of the 30 investment strategists and money managers told cnn money in a survey. they said uncertainty in washington remains the market's biggest headwind. one of them said democrats and republicans did the least they could possibly do to avoid the fiscal cliff. the question now is will they do the least amount again when it comes to raising the debt ceiling and how will the rating agencies view that? moody's did warn yesterday it could lower america's credit rating unless washington reduces the deficit. no word yet if your tax

refunds will be delayed this year because of the last-minute deal on the fiscal cliff. the irs put out a statement saying the irs is currently reviewing the details of this week's tax legislation and assessing what impact it will have on this year's filing season. >> that's interesting. >> it said it will issue additional guidance soon. if you look at the 1040 form for 2012, several lines are listed as reserved. an irs spokesman told cnn money there are place holder force several fiscal cliff provisions they were working on, like the alternative minimum tax. even though they got it in just after the wire, as we've been telling you for months it was too late. they needed to do this months ago. the 11th hour will not work when you talk about tax season, how we're paid -- >> i thought there were articles coming out saying it will be delayed. 24 minutes past the hour. a wisconsin state senator makes

some jaw-dropping claims about the holiday kwanzaa. up next, hear what he said, and how he tried to defend his comments right here on cnn.se ha, do you want to back away or take charge? with a degree in the field of healthcare or nursing from capella university, you'll have the knowledge to advance your career while making a difference in the lives of patients. let's get started at capella.edu.

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for us, it's a move forward. i think a lot of us are looking at that as this is the next step. >> the students of sandy hook go back to school, but not the same school. we'll look inside their new classrooms. and she's out of the hospital but is she in the clear? new information on hillary clinton's health scare. and we could use one of these. the 113th congress set to swear in this morning. can some new faces tackle the

same old battles? >> poor folks. welcome back to "early start." thanks for being with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans. the sound of children laughing on school buses will once again be heard this morning in newtown, connecticut as kids go back to class for the first time since a gunman smashed his way into the sandy hook elementary school and killed 26 children and educators nearly three weeks ago. deb feyerick near the new sandy hook school. it's a new location, but the same name, the same sign there up on the building. >> yeah. as a matter of fact, the folks in monroe wanted to welcome these kids. so they decided to put the name sandy hook elementary outside. so when the kids arrive on the buses they will know this is their school. that's really sort of the whole premise. this is their building. this is their school. they'll have their things.

people have been working around the clock over the holidays to get in desks, to get in backpacks, cubbies, toys, furniture. everything to make the children feel comfortable. to make them understand, yes, this is a familiar environment. it is also a safe environment. that's one of the reasons the media staging area is more than two miles from the school. they want to make sure that there's no sign that there's something unnatural going on. they want to present this as a big adventure for the kids. they have a new building. it's not just one floor. it's two floors. the kids will be discovering, going around to see where classes are, where the front office is. and it's interesting. there will be a checkpoint for any cars going into that school. that's one thing they want to do, create a sense of safety, fwlu will be a lot of cars. a lot of parents will also be joining their children. they will be waiting in the auditorium. they will have coffee. it's as important for the

parents to be there as it is to the children. the children are going to be in the classes, the parents will be together sort of bonding and connecting, communicating and talking. for many it will also be the first time they themselves are also together. >> absolutely. since december 14th, these parents have had their kids with them out of school, holidays. there's a coping with the parents, too, that may be different than how the kids are coping. >> yeah. there's no question about it. a number of parents we spoke to said, look, our experience, we have gone through so much in the course of our lifetimes, these children are very young. we can't forget they're 6, 7, 8, 9. so they see things in a much more simple way. the children are reconciling their feelings very differently than the adults are. the adults know what signs to look for, how to feel, what to expect. for children, it's newer, a bit more raw because they're so

young. we spoke to one father, andrew paley and his two 9-year-old twins, this is what they had to tell us. >> i have no doubts they'll be safe. i have -- that's not an issue. that's not a concern at all. it's how are they going to be feeling? yes, there's going to be a lot of parents there. my wife and i may be there. we're still trying to figure out what their needs are. personally i think they're probably ready. they're very excited. they may just get on that bus and not need us there. i think in some cases the parents probably need to be there more than the kids. >> well, this has been a huge crushing to us. it makes me really happy to see all those people trying to help. that's a big part that makes me feel better. watching people and they're all trying to make it better. >> one thing, you know, that all these children, they went

through this tragedy together. the parents that we spoke to said that they also want the children to go through the healing together. this is something that will always bond them. they don't want to be defined by it, but it will bond them. if they can come together, if they can be in their classes, laugh, learn, it will be tough, christine, because web a number of siblings of those who were killed will also be in class today or they're expected to be in class today. there will be signs that, yeah, things are different, clearly a different school. but the word of the day is normal. that's what school officials are aiming for. that's what they hope to achievement. >> for some of the older children, they will recognize their principal. she came out retirement to lead this school. she knows this staff. she knows how to make this work. our thoughts are, too, deb, with t the teachers, administrators and hard work they done.

>> every parent we talked to said these teachers were heroes, the way they responded, reacted and kept their kids safe. the parents have confidence that these teachers are the right folks to there with their kids at this moment in time. kids returning to class in marlboro, new jersey noticed something new yesterday, armed police officers. school officials say moving forward every school in that town will be guarded by a cop. and that will continue until the board of education and local township officials figure out a permanent security plan. president obama signing the fiscal cliff bill into law overnight. that measure boosts tack s tax for the wealthiest americans. with the president on vacation in hawaii, he signed the bill using an auto pen, a device that copies his signature. the claws will come out later, but today the washington welcome

mat is out for the 113th congress. 13 freshman senators and 81 fre freshmen representatives. democrats will still control the senate. republicans remain in control of the house. and john boehner doing a 180 after the criticism he received after pulling a superstorm sandy bill from consideration. he promised new york and new jersey lawmakers that $60 billion in sandy aid would be a done deal by the middle of this month. he plans to hold the first of the two votes on the bill tomorrow. secretary of state hillary clinton is out of the hospital after being treated for a blood clot in her head. she was spotted walking on the campus of new york presbyterian hospital yesterday, accompanied by her husband and their daughter, chelsea. doctors found the blood clot related to a medical test from a concussion she suffered from last month.

wisconsin state senator glenn grothman is not backing down from his stance that kwanzaa should die a quick death. in a press release called why must we still hear about kwanzaa. he claims kwanzaa is a part of a leftest plot to separate america, and that the founder, karenga, thought they should have their own holiday. >> i think the underlying problem here is not enough tv types, when they talk about kwanzaa talk about the horrible racist violent past of its founder. if they knew the past, i think kwanzaa would die a quick death. you got to remember, ron karenga, the founder of kwanzaa, who just founded it in 1966, was a black separatist who felt the black panthers didn't dislike

white people enough. >> grotman said kwanzaa is a holiday that "almost no black people today care about." >> pakistani intelligence officials say an important taliban commander was among 15 people killed in two suspected u.s. drone attacks in a volatile region of pakistan. that commander was set to be at odds with the pakistani taliban over a peace agreement he signed in 2007. as part of the deal, he refused to attack pakistani military or government targets but he is believed to be behind many attacks on the u.s. military. the u.n. estimates the death toll in syria is beyond 60,000. that is 15,000 higher than estimates cnn was going with. and that number will keep going

up as attacks like these persist. an opposition group says 207 people were killed in war-related violence. this was yesterday alone. most of them in damascus and its suburbs, others in aleppo. six men accused of gang raping and killing a 23-year-old indian woman are expected to face murder, rape and kidnapping charges in court today. the woman's family calling for them to be hanged. the unidentified woman and a male companion were brutally attacked on the bus and dumped on the side of a road. he survived, she died from her injuries. top lawyers in the district where the attack happened say they will not represent the suspects. 38 minutes past the hour. still ahead a chilling video is posted on the web reigniting the case of an alleged underage rape in one small ohio town.

welcome back to "early start." a rape case in a small ohio town is playing out on social media. it involves two high school football players, a 16-year-old girl that they allegedly assaulted and a 12-minute video. susan candiotti is covering the case and joins us this morning right here in our new york studio. this is shocking. >> it is. good morning. the charges are horrific. a 16-year-old girl alleged lly raped by two high school football in the ohio town of stubenville. there were reports that the girl was drunk and possibly unconscious. now two special prosecutors are just of a month away from trying at least two teens on rape charges. but what makes this case stand out more is talk about the alleged attack last august has been playing itself out through social media. even ohio's chief law

enforcement officer says this case might never have come together a decade ago. that's because police in part found out about the alleged rape by piecing together outrageous tweets, a cell phone photo that claims to show the girl at the center of the attack being carried seemingly limp by her arms and legs, and at least one online video showing young people callously laugh being it. >> what if that was your daughter? >> but it isn't. if it was? if that was my daughter, i wouldn't care. i would let her be dead. >> listen to yourself. >> i'm listening to myself fine. >> in about ten years, i'm going come back to this video. >> in ten years, my daughter's going to be raped and dead in ten years. that continues for about 12 minutes. he makes offensive one-line comments about rape and talks about the girl as if she was dead, which she is not.

>> what are the charges so far? >> two 16-year-old boys are charged with rape. one of the two is also charged with illegal use of a minor in nude material. the attorney general's office says they will be tried by a juvenile court judge without a jury in open court next month. they've been publicly identified by authorities, however cnn is not yet revealing their names. and because cnn's policy is not to release the names of rape victims, we are not reporting the name of the girl. >> i watched the entire tape. what about others involved here? >> ohio's attorney general says the investigation is not over. authorities are still conducting interviews. he also says he is well aware of the online video, photo and postings. some were online months ago, taken down and then some put back online. this seems to be far from over. >> absolutely. i'm sure we will hear more and more. i was saying i was keeping this

in order to share it with my 14-year-old of things that can get incredibly out of hand. if there is any way to use it as a learning experience. it's a tragedy. thank you. the numbers are in and they're staggering. the number of americans trying to buy guns hit a record high. the whole run on guns is keeping the fbi quite busy with background checks. oh! progress-oh! [ female announcer ] with 40 delicious progresso soups at 100 calories or less, there are plenty of reasons people are saying "progress-oh!" share your progress-oh! story on facebook.

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good morning, washington. wow. thanks for starting your morning with us. we have a bunch of new people who had to take their oath on the hill today. i hope they get a crash course in finance. >> you were making a suggestion there, maybe you would send your book in their direction? >> ali velshi and will send them our book. finally you won't have to hear about the fiscal cliff every time you turn on the news, or maybe fiscal cliff part two. president obama signed the bill to pull us back from the cliff into law, but more spending issues are coming up. from the cliff to the oath, the new congress gets sworn in at noon eastern. there are a bunch of firsts in this bunch. the house is getting its first hindu member, first female combat veterans and first openly bisexual representative. the big question is will john boehner be the house speaker after today. it's a big day for sandy hook elementary students. in just a few hours they will return to class for the first

time since the shootings. 20 schoolmates and six educators were killed in sandy hook less than three weeks ago. the kids will be in a class at a converted middle school a few miles away. relatives of the victims of the shooting at the colorado movie theater shooting are outaged. that is because they received tickets to go to a movie a day before the theater opens. the fbi reports 78 million background checks have happened in december. the father of malala has a new job working in england. she is recovering from severe gunshot wounds after being shot in the head by the taliban for

defying their order to stop advocating education for girls. time for a check of the nation's weather. alexandra steele joins us from atlanta. a new year a new weather pattern. >> that's right. happy new year to you. happy new year, everyone. it is a new weather pattern. it's a virtual certainty that 2012 will go down as the warmest on record. 2013 has not started that way. albany, 2 below. 8 in boston. 25 in atlantic city. 28 in philadelphia. factor in the windchills, walking out the door, in albany, new york, 14 below. 2 below in providence. the air is cold. winds are coming in. even in the southeast, temperatures in the 30s and 40s. so on the whole, most of the country at about 10, 15 degrees below average. why? the jet stream's position is keeping it cold, and an impressive snow pack around the country keeping that cold air in

essence refrigerated. the snow pack we have exceeding all of last season. that's what a banner snow year it's been thus far. single digits in the northeast, but pattern change is coming. what we'll see here, the cold air of today, highs in the 20s and 30s. you can see from minneapolis to kansas city, the northern tier of the country well below average that will change. we've seen the jet stream, this is the jet stream, this river after air above us, it is allowing this cold air from canada to come down. we will watch this jet move north with that, warmer temperatures so next week by this time we will be 5, 10 degrees above average. we also won't see much in the way of snowfall. a few little rain drops in the southeast and the mid-atlantic. one other little interesting weather note, we have been watching this wind threat around los angeles, wind gusts of 40,

50 miles per hour. >> alexandra steele. thank you very much. a packed hour ahead on "early start," including outrage after congress leaves so many cold, hungry and helpless people waiting another day for hurricane sandy relief. we will talk to a representative from an area that took a beating. chilly dog. a firefighter with a pair of long legs wades into an icy leg to save a pooch. the heartwarming pictures when we come back. but first, kutd kid alert. watch a 3-year-old break down a controversial play in a bowl game. can curlers! tomato basil, potato with bacon... we've got a lot of empty cans. [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. but i'm also on a lot of medications that dry my mouth out. i just drank tons of water all the time. it was never enough. i wasn't sure i was going to be able to continue singing. i saw my dentist and he suggested biotene.

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welcome back to "early

start." it is 55 minutes past the hour. christine romans. >> good morning. >> along with myself. we're looking at the top cnn trends on the web this morning. >> i love this one. >> my gosh, this will be your favorite, too. even a 3-year-old can see that's not a first down, ref. video going viral of a pint-sized south carolina gamecock man going all john maddon after one of the worst calls ever in the outback bowl that gave michigan a questionable first down. take a look. >> he's really not touching it. it's really not. because, it's closer to that. and it's a little bit a spot. the referee says it's touching that pole, but it's really not. >> that kid is adorable. >> give him a job. >> tim tebow is being kicked

while he was down. dick's ad has tebow riding the pine sitting out. >> place money where your mat is. the grammy-nominated record producer and singer ryan leslie has been ordered to pay $1.2 million to a man who claim he found his stolen laptop in a forest. leslie offered a $1 million reward after the computer disappeared in germany, but leslie claims the files on the computer are corrupted and no good. but a federal court in new york upheld the ruling. and there is interest attached to that as well. >> you can't give a reward and say when you get the thing back, oh, it's not exactly the way i wanted it. >> qualify it ahead of thyme. what's so funny about the fiscal cliff? a lot, especially now that it's

behind us. >> even better, if you find a way to work kim kardashian and kanye west bunch lines. >> police report around the country fewer drunk driving arrests this new year's eve. arrests were down. you know why? congress was stuck in session working on the budget. that's 500 drunks off the road! exactly. >> after hours and hours of tough negotiation, the most powerful people in america have finally come to an agreement. that's right. if it's a girl they'll name it kim, if it's a boy, they'll name it kanye. they figured it out. kim kardashian pregnant. >> that's great. >> i just hope the media doesn't make a big deal out of this. i hope it doesn't get blown way out of proportion. that means she'll be seeking

publicity for two now. >> oh. >> the next hour of "early start" begins right now. i think right now it has to be the safest school in america. back to class, the students of sandy hook elementary return to school this morning but it will not be the one they remember. fresh faces, members of the new congress take their oath of office hours from now and speaker boehner finds out if he keeps his leadership job. >> 66 days and counting. shame on you. shame on congress. >> political war. new jersey's tough-talking governor explodes at the leaders of his own party. good morning. welcome to "early start." thanks for being with us. i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans. >> john berman connecticut, this morning school bus engines are revving up and the children

of sandy hook elementary school are getting ready to return to school for the first time since a gunman shot up their school, slaughtered their friends and forever stole their innocence as wel well. >> reporter: so you were in the gym and you were in the art room. ben and ethan heard the gunshots and screams that horrible morning at sandy hook elementary school. three weeks isn't nearly enough time to understand all the feelings they experienced since then. fear, worry, anger. still, the 9-year-old twins are trying every way they can. >> it's a healing shawl, so it's supposed to heal us. >> reporter: going back to school this week is a big part of that healing. >> are you guys looking forward to kind of going back to school? >> well, we just went there to visit it and look at everything. and it's very -- it's a very interesting school. >> reporter: originally for teenagers, the school in monroe has been transformed for k through fourth grade. toys, cubbies, carpets and

familiar things brought other from sandy hook elementary. >> all of our desks are there, but my desk, i noticed that someone was in there and cleaned it and made it -- well, not cleaned it, made it neater. because my desk is usually very messy. >> i think them getting on the bus is -- for us it's a movement forward, so i think a lot of us are looking at that as this is the next step. now it's getting back to a routine and it's getting them to school so they get back to that nor malcy and start learning again. >> reporter: ben and ethan want a turtle to be the school mascot. >> our motto is actually one step at a time. >> reporter: it's also one step at a time for denise, sara and their daughters. >> there's no real playbook for this. i don't think any of us really have a playbook so we're kind of just sensing our child and trying to meet the needs that we

can. >> reporter: counselors will be on hand for the children, and parents can spend the day at the school, just in case. >> i joked with one of the other moms, i'll see you in the morning, i'll bring coffee. i think i need that adult time too, because i'm not sure i'm ready yet to totally let them go in peace because i think my peace has been shattered. >> reporter: you know, a lot of the parents are going to have a hard time putting their kids on the school bus today. yes, they're very excited but everything is different, everything has changed. they're not going to be able to just sort of wave goodbye and casually get back to their day as normal. a number of the parents said they're going to be driving right to the school as soon as the bus leaves because they want to be there, they want to be close to their children and just in case any of those children do need them during the course of the day. normal, that's the key word. that's what all the school officials are saying and that's one of the reasons that the media is about two miles away from there. they just want to make sure when

the kids arrive the only thing they see are their teachers, their classmates, maybe their parents but certainly nobody else who shouldn't be there. >> deb, it's really unimaginable for us because we just cannot comprehend what these parents and students must be going through. so for the parents that mentioned that they are going to be there, is that something that the school is allowing all parents to kind of decide how they feel about it? we're very focused on the children, but as a parent you know that you've got to be really nervous about this. >> reporter: oh, yeah, absolutely. absolutely. you know, that's one of the things. they're making it very welcoming for the parents as well because they do know that the parents have to stay strong for the children. and the parents are grappling with what happened there, the vulnerability of it, the vulnerability of life, of their children, of themselves. and so they do want it to be a place that the parents can simply hang out, connect. and then as the day begins and gets rolling, as people begin to feel more comfortable, maybe the parents will leave. but this is really about, as

denise said, there's not a playbook for this so they're really taking their cues from everybody that's around. they're going to heal together but it's going to be a very fine and intricate dance as they do that. >> is it a regular school day for the kids? are they there for six, eight hours? >> reporter: yeah, pretty much. it's going to be normal. the kids will be getting used to the environment, learning where the art room is and the gym is. the gym floor has been redone. people really worked tirelessly over the holidays to get this building, which hadn't been used in two years, into shape. that meant repainting areas, putting guardrails on the stairs. remember, this is a building for older kids. now you have 5 and 6-year-olds and they need a little help going up and down the steps. it's a new place and they're going to play it by ear. hopefully at the end of the day the kids will feel at least for a little while that they were able to forget what happened over the course of the last couple of weeks. >> i'm sure they're going to feel welcome. it was quite an effort on behalf

of everyone in that community. thank you, appreciate it. out with the old, in with the new in washington. the 113th congress gets sworn in today on capitol hill. 13 freshmen senators, 81 freshmen representatives. those are among those taking the oath. in this congress democrats will still control the senate, republicans the house and one of the first pieces of business will be to decide whether house speaker john boehner gets to keep his gavel. meantime a big about-face from speaker boehner who's come under heavy criticism for pulling a superstorm sandy relief bill from consideration. he's now scheduled the first of two votes on sandy aid tomorrow. peter king said boehner's actions was like a knife in the back. he now says he is satisfied. >> the bottom line is that we now are receiving what we asked for. as far as i'm concerned, what's done is done. i've always considered john boehner a friend and i said that on the house floor today, which made it all the more painful for

me to say what i felt i had to say. i owed it to my constituents and i did feel that new york in a number of cases was being taken advantage of. >> he was just outraged that there was no sandy relief passed in that fiscal cliff issue. the house will vote tomorrow on $9 billion in sandy aid. that's for flood insurance. it will consider another $51 billion in aid later this month. and to hear new jersey governor chris christie tell it, boehner still has some explaining to do. christie had some choice words over his party's leadership over the delay in sandy funding. >> there's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the house majority and their speaker, john boehner. new york deserves better than the selfishness we saw displayed last night. new jersey deserves better than the duplicity we saw displayed last night. america deserves better than just another example of a government that has forgotten who they are there to serve and why.

>> christie also says he was given no credible reason for the holdup. after all the fiscal fireworks, the bill that kept us from going off the cliff is now law. the president signed it overnight. get this, with the first family on vacation in hawaii, the president couldn't be in washington so he used the auto pen to put his john hancock on the fiscal cliff bill. he teamed up with vice president biden to get the fiscal cliff deal done. now mitch mcconnell is gearing up for a showdown with the president over government spending and the debt. in a yahoo! news op-ed, mcconnell says now the controversy turns to cutting spending on the government programs that are the real source of the nation's imbalance and the upcoming debate on the debt limit is the perfect time to have that discussion. the president may not want to have a fight about government spending over the next few months but it's a fight he's going to have pause it's a debate the country needs. three days after being admitted to a new york hospital to treat a blood clot, secretary of state hillary clinton has been discharged.

she was spotted walking on the campus of new york presbyterian yesterday. she was accompanied by bill clinton and their daughter, chelsea. in a statement the state department said, quote, clinton's medical team advised her that she is making good progress on all fronts and they are confident she will make a full recovery. the secretary is being treated with blood thinners to dissolve that clot. the u.n. estimates the death toll in syria is now beyond 60,000 since that conflict began in march of 2011. 15,000 higher than estimates cnn was going with. that number will likely rise as attacks like these persist. an opposition group said 207 people were killed in war-related violence yesterday alone. most of them in damascus and suburbs. cnn cannot independently verify these numbers. families of victims of the movie theater massacre in aurora, colorado, call this a disgusting offer. they're furious over cinemark's invitation to a remembrance

ceremony followed by a free movie at the very theater where their loved ones were killed. one of the people killed died saving his girlfriend. his cousin says the theater is thinking about ticket sales, not them. >> that is a blatant lack of respect for the families. they're looking to boost their own ticket sales for the grand reopening to the public. >> at the expense -- >> at the expense of 12 families who are heart broken at a loss. >> however, blunk's girlfriend plans on going saying she's not going to let the bad guy win. aurora's mayor says for some, reopening the theater will be painful but it might actually help others heal. cinemark has been renovating the theater and plans to reopen it two weeks from today. after facing outrage by members of his own party, speaker john boehner now says the sandy relief bill is priority number one in the new congress.

up next, i'll speak to a democratic lawmaker from one of the areas hardest hit. this lawmaker calls boehner's handling of the issue deplorable. sfx- "sounds of african drum and flute" look who's back. again? it's embarrassing it's embarrassing! we can see you carl. we can totally see you. come on you're better than this...all that prowling around. yeah, you're the king of the jungle. have you thought about going vegan carl? hahaha!! you know folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy. how happy are they jimmy? happier than antelope with night-vision goggles.

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12 minutes past the hour,

let's get you up to date. the 113th congress begins it's two-year term today. even with new faces in both the house and the senate, the new congress will need to pick up where the 112th left off. it must confront the federal debt ceiling and deal with the deep spending cuts called for in the fiscal cliff negotiations. >> with a deep desire for normalcy students from sandy hook elementary school are going back to class today, the first time since the december 14th massacre in newtown. but they're going to gather in a middle school in nearby monroe that's been outfitted to resemble sandy hook right down to the little desks, the bulletin boards, the cubbies, the sign above the front door and security is a top pry tore tee. >> i think right now it has to be the safest school in america. we have many different options in place. most of monroe schools were already monitored at the police department with cameras. we've installed numerous different security devices at this school and we are going to remain our presence on location until further notice. >> the mass shooting at sandy

hook killed 20 children and six adults. the online publication of this map by a suburban new york city newspaper has led that paper to ironically hire armed guards now. after the connecticut school massacre, the "journal news" posted the locations of licensed gun owners in two nearby counties shown by all of the dots there. one gun-owning blogger was so offended that in response, he posted the home addresses of newspaper staffers. the arab news network al jazeera has bought current tv, the cable channel al gore founded. it will launch a new channel with the hope of reaching more american viewers. al jazeera plans to double its staff and open new bureaus. the network is based in qatar and financed by that country's government. senator mark kirk of illinois returns to washington a year after a major stroke. so happy to see him back. the 53-year-old republican has spent the past 12 months learning to walk again. so today he plans to climb the steps of the capitol building

and to get back to work. he says one of his priorities is medicaid funding for stroke victims who have no income. >> best of luck to him. this morning republican leaders in the house promising to make good after a move that left lawmakers on both sides of the aisle enraged. speaker boehner pledging to make a sandy relief bill a priority in the new congress after abruptly pulling a similar bill late tuesday night. that move had politicians in the northeast venting their anger, including new jersey's outspoken governor, chris christie, also a republican. >> national disasters happen in red states and blue states. in states with democratic governors and republican governors. we respond to innocent victims of natural disasters not as republicans or democrats but as americans. or at least we did until last night. last night, politics was placed before our oaths to serve our citizens. for me, it was disappointing and

disgusting to watch. >> and for many a sign the congress -- congress just can't do its job. boehner says lawmakers will vote tomorrow for a $9 billion measure with more money coming later. congressman frank palone is a democrat in new jersey. his district includes union beach and bellmawr, towns hit hard by superstorm sandy. really, sir, i've got to show you this sort of shows congress can only do one thing at a time and that one thing now is just figuring out a budget and not disaster relief. it looks like it's a congress that is completely dysfunctional. boehner has assured your republican colleagues that the flood insurance part will be brought up on friday in the new congress that gives $9 billion to fema's national flood insurance program. the agency has said that's going to run out of money by next week. do you think this is all going to happen now? >> well, the problem is that it's not enough. in other words, it's been nine weeks since the storm and we

want to rebuild the jersey shore. the fact of the matter is if all we do is pass a bill in the house that deals with the flood inrance aspect, that's not going to address most of the problems. in other words, we want funding for our army corps projects to rebuild our beaches and dunes to protect these areas. the towns need to be reimbursed for what they have spent. many of them are small and are going broke and would have to raise taxes. and of course there's funding for homeowners and for businesses so that they can rebuild that's not part of this package. if the speaker had simply let the bill come up in the previous session of congress yesterday or even this morning before the new congress, then the whole $60 billion package would have been passed because it was already passed in the senate and it would be signed by the president and we'd be rebuilding the shore. so this is a total dysfunctional act on the part of the speaker because we're starting all over again tomorrow in a piecemeal fashion and it hasn't passed the senate. >> let's talk about the timing because you mentioned it's been

nine weeks. i want to show you how quickly congress has moved in response to oar natural disasters. katrina took ten days before congress and the white house managed to get aid bills signed. gustav 17 days, hurricane andrew in 1992, 31 days, devastated florida and the southeast. why do you think it is taking so long in this case? >> well, i really think that the speaker doesn't care about new york and new jersey. in other words, we're blue states. the fact of the matter is that he was afraid to bring this up yesterday, in my opinion, because the tea party and the right wing did not want to vote for the spending bill for new york or primarily for new york and new jersey. it's simply not fair -- >> so you think the tea party thinks that a natural disaster in a blue state is not as important as a natural disaster in a red state? >> i don't know how -- i have to come to that conclusion, because why else are we waiting nine weeks and it's going to be 12 or 15 by the time this passes the

house in this piecemeal fashion and then passes the senate. so of course. it's clear to me that they didn't want to vote, the conservatives, the right wing didn't want to vote on this spending bill. why? because it's new york and new jersey. what other conclusion can i come to. >> i want to listen to what governor christie said about this. a lot of the blame is on the current political atmosphere in congress, they just can't do their job. listen. >> disaster relief was something that you didn't play games with. but now in this current atmosphere, everything is the subject of one upsmanship. everything is a possibility, a potential piece of bait for the political game. and it's just -- it is why the american people hate congress. >> can your body not walk and chew gum at the same time? the place where you work? i mean the people we elect, can we not do disaster relief and

big budget deals and run the country at the same time? >> i mean i think that's the problem. if you look at this last congress, it was what we call the do-nothing congress. i mean they passed very few bills. everything became, you know, political. and i just hope that that doesn't continue into this new session. but when you take a bill that you could have passed yesterday and you say we have to divide it up because it's too much money, the amount of time it takes to deal with the flood insurance tomorrow on the floor of the house is the same time that could be used to pass the entire bill. why are we dividing it up? because there's a fear that we don't want to vote on so much spending at once so we'll divide it up and obscure what we're really doing. it's ridiculous. this is a natural disaster. this is when congress should be coming together. this is when people are not partisan. this is a basic function of government, and yet we have to piecemeal it and spread it out over a longer period of time in order to get it done. i mean that's -- that just makes

no sense. >> all right, frank pallone, best of luck. i promise you, sir, i will be down there in the summer spending my money. i guarantee it. >> thank you. thanks so much. 21 minutes past the hour. coming up next, a big rally on wall street following the fiscal cliff deal but will it last? you're watching "early start." [ woman ] uh-oh.

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24 minutes past the hour. the list of places around the world without a starbucks continues to get shorter and shorter. the firstar bucks in vietnam is set to open next month. it's part of their continuing expansion into the asia-pacific

region. the company's biggest growth market. the new starbucks will be located in ho chi minh city. starbucks opened its first store in india. world domination, one cup of joe at a time. >> no kidding. minding your business this morning, a very strong day for the markets yesterday. the dow gained 308 points or about 2.4% on the news of the fiscal cliff deal. we want to know if it's going to last. >> well, as often happens when you have a big move like that, you can see a little pull-back the next day. 308 points is a big rally so i think you'll see and stock futures are suggesting that you'll see a little bit of a pull-back today. yesterday was a relief rally. sometimes you get a little bit of a takeback the next day. dow futures down about 20 points right now. investor enthusiasm over that cliff deal expected to be short-lived also because we've got these other cliff-like deadlines approaching, the debt ceiling and those deep spending cuts looming in coming months. you know, wall street's biggest problem is washington. that's what most of the 30

investment strategists and money managers surveyed by cnn money told us. they said uncertainty out of washington remains the market's biggest headwind. one of those money managers said, quote, democrats and republicans did the least they could possibly do to avoid the fiscal cliff, the least they could do, and the question now is will they do the least again when it comes to raising the debt ceiling and how will that -- how will the rating agencies view that. moody's did warn yesterday it could lower america's credit rating unless washington reduces the deficit. so we still have a fight ahead of us about national priorities, how we're going to pay our builds, how we're going to get our debt and deficits in order, even though they did the very bare minimum to get the fiscal cliff out of the way. 26 minutes past the hour. wisconsin state senator makes some pretty jaw-dropping claims about the holiday kwanzaa. up next hear what he said and how he tried to defend his comments right here on cnn.

for us, it's a move forward, so i think a lot of us are looking at that as this is the next step. >> the students of sandy hook go back to school, but not the same one. we'll take you inside their new classrooms. plus she's out of the hospital, but is she in the clear? new information on hillary clinton's health scare. we could use a new one of these right about now all right. the 113th congress set to swear in this morning. bye-bye 112th. can some of these new faces tackle the same old battles? >> we'll talk to one of the new ones coming up shortly. welcome back to "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> and i'm christine romans. lunches are packed and school bus engines are humming in newtown, connecticut. they're attempting to return to normalcy this morning as the kids of sandy hook elementary head back to class for the first time since a gunman slaughtered 26 children and educators in

their school nearly three weeks ago. deb feyerick is live near the new sandy hook school. new location but the same name and a lot of anxious parents and students who need to be back into the security of a classroom again. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. not only the security of the classroom but also the routine of a classroom. i think that's one of the reasons that the kids we spoke to are so excited to get back into that sort of rhythm of their lives. they want to be with their teachers, they want to be with their friends, their classmates. you know, people frankly who they didn't really get together in a class environment with until the day of the shooting when that all happened. so they are -- the children really are excited. the parents clearly are very nervous. but they also understand that this is a big, big part of the healing process and dozens of folks worked tireless legal over the holidays to transform this building that hadn't been used in two years into a new environment for the children. they did things where they made

it age appropriate. they had to put guardrails on some of the bannisters. they had to do things like bringing carpeting because a lot of the younger kids, they sit on carpeting. not only that but they moved furniture, they moved desks from one school to the new school. so the children when they go in, yes, it will be a new environment but it will also be a familiar environment because they can sit at their desk and see their pencils, everything that they had there. so it's going to be something where for everyone they want it to happen and now is a good time, now that they have had the holidays together. it doesn't mean that they're finished processing all the feelings or even their experiences of that terrible day, but it does mean that at least for a little bit, they'll be able to sort of begin the wheels of getting back into this routine, into this rhythm of life, christine. >> and the parents have to get back into that rhythm too. they have to cope with sending their kids back to school, either putting them on a bus or leaving them at school. and that's separation anxiety i

think for them too. >> reporter: oh, there's going to be a huge amount of separation anxiety on both sides because things have now changed. so the parents are invited to come to the school. as a matter of fact, when they come up, the cars are going to be checked. there's going to be a checkpoint because officials do not want anybody near that school who shouldn't be near the school. we spoke to a couple of moms yesterday. take a listen. >> there's no real playbook for this. i don't think any of us really have a playbook. so we're kind of just sensing our child and trying to meet the needs that we can. >> i also think being in the auditorium with some of the parents, this will be some of the first times we've had without media, without other people, without people who weren't necessarily involved. i joked with one of the other moms, i'll see you in the morning, i'll bring coffee. i think i need that adult time too because i'm not sure i'm ready yet to totally let them go in peace, because i think my peace has been shattered. >> reporter: and, you know, so it's really a delicate balance, you know.

the parents, they want to do exactly the right thing for their children, but they also have to take their cues from the children. those two moms told us, look, the kids are seeing this in a very simple way. they want to go back to class, they want to be with their friends and they want to learn. so the parents are caught not overthinking all of this because they know that if they kind of can give their children a sense that it's okay, we're okay now, the bad guy is gone, then they will have a better learning experience and be able to adapt more quickly to the new environment, christine. >> the bad guy is gone and a new beginning for everyone. thanks, deb. 34 minutes past the hour. today marks the swearing in of the new 113th congress. there will be 12 new members in the senate, three republicans, eight democrats with one independent. and 83 new members in the house. 34 republicans, 49 democrats. democrats retain control of the senate and republicans will retain control of the house of representatives. among the 49 newly elected

democratic freshmen representative is ami berra. you're the third indian american congressman in u.s. history. congratulations and welcome. it's very nice to see you this morning. >> thanks, it's good to be here. >> big battles are ahead in the new congress. the debt ceiling vote, and they are saying this new congress is even more polarized than the last one. are you worried that the coming negotiations will turn into a repeat of this fiscal cliff fiasco? >> it can't. the mandate of this election really is the american public expects us to work together. they want us to reach across the aisle, work together as democrats and republicans. as you guys said earlier, we have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time. >> we haven't been able to see that, though, so that's why we're asking the question. so when it comes to these negotiations, many representatives say that they feel compelled to stick to their values because that's what the constituents in their districts

would want them to do. it's why they voted for you in the first place. what is more important to you, a compromise for the nation as a whole or keeping your promise to the people who you voted for? >> well, compromise doesn't mean we have to give up our convictions, but what it does mean is we've got to do the country's work. we have to be able to take that common ground. we all agree we've got to deal with the national debt, we've got to deal with our deficit. the fiscal cliff was just the beginning. we've got the debt ceiling fights coming up. and this -- we've got to get back to the ability to reach across the aisle, find that common ground and move forward. and, you know, it is about doing the country's business but it also is about representing the folks at home. >> so how do you plan to deal with the debt ceiling and the automatic spending cuts? >> the first thing we've been doing is during orientation really just getting to know the republicans in our freshman class. they have done a good job bringing us together. let's get to know each other as

americans and find that common ground. we've got to start living within our means. as a doctor, i've got to look at this from the perspective of the patients. there's no way to deal with the debt and the deficit without, you know, talking about medicare, without talking about how we use the resources that we have available. >> you've been watching this fiscal cliff fiasco as we all have as well, so do you have any concrete plans, any suggestions that you're bringing to the table? >> you know, again, as a doctor we keep doing these one-year doc fixes on reimbursement. let's have a real broad conversation about this. let's take a broad view and look at the resources that we have available and then say here's what we have. now, what are our priorities and so forth. a starting point would be let's actually pass a budget. the american people, our folks back home in our districts, expect us to pass a budget. that sets out what our values are, what our priorities are.

the past congress and the congresses in previous years have not passed a budget for years. let's start by actually passing a budget. >> let's talk about something that's become very common place and it's the expenditure of campaigns. your campaign was one of the most expensive in the country, more than $8.5 million in outside spending on both sides, not just your side. isn't that a part of the problem in washington? how do you deal with that? >> you know, we should be able to have a real conversation about campaign finance reform. we should be able to talk about taking a look at citizens united. i think most folks in my district were tired of all this outside money. if it was left up to me, i would say we should just have candidate-funded campaigns. >> all right, ami bera, congressman-elect from california. congratulations. good luck today and thanks for spending some of your time with us this morning. >> thank you. secretary of state hillary clinton is now out of the hospital after being treated for a blood clot in her head. she was seen walking around new

york presbyterian hospital yesterday accompanied by her husband, former president bill clinton, and their daughter, chelsea. doctors found the clot during a medical test related to a concussion she suffered last month. she is expected to make a full recovery. the family of free lance journalist james foley missing in syria since thanksgiving day now launching a public campaign to find him. global post, a news website who he previously reported for told reuters of 39-year-old was driving toward syria's border with turkey when he was intercepted by a car. he was reportedly forced out of his vehicle by two armed men and hasn't been seen or heard from since. no one has claimed responsibility either, so last year 28 journalists died covering that conflict from inside syria. pakistani intelligence officials say an important taliban commander was among 15 people killed in two suspected u.s. drone attacks. in a volatile tribal region of pakistan. that commander was said to be at

odds with the pakistani taliban over a peace agreement that he signed with the government in 2007. as part of that deal, he refused to attack pakistani government or military targets, but he is believed to be behind a number of attacks that targeted the u.s. military. two of his deputies were also believed to be killed in that strike. in india, six men accused of gang raping and killing a 23-year-old indian woman are expected to face murder, rape and kidnapping charges in court there today. the woman's family calling for them to be hanged. the unidentified woman and a male companion were brutally attacked on a bus, then dumped on the side of the road. he survived, she died of her injuries. the vicious attack sparked widespread debate on how india handles sexual assault cases. top lawyers in the district where this attack happened say they will not respect the suspects. and still ahead, a chilling video is posted on the web reigniting the case of an alleged underage rape in one small ohio town. that story is coming up.

welcome back to "early start." it is 43 minutes past the hour. a rape case in a city of ohio played out on social media.

it involves two high school football players, a 16-year-old girl they allegedly assaulted and a 12-minute video. cnn national correspondent susan candiotti is covering the case for us. what can you tell us, susan? >> well, zoraida, the charges are simply horrific. a 16-year-old girl allegedly raped by two high school football players during end of the summer parties in a small eastern ohio town of steubenville. there are reports the girl was drunk and possibly unconscious, and now two special prosecutors appointed by ohio's attorney general, mike dewine, are just over a month away from trying two teens on rape charges. but what makes this case stand out even more is talk about the alleged attack last august has been playing itself out through social media. even ohio's chief law enforcement officer says this case might never have come together a decade ago. that's because police in part found out about the alleged rape by piecing together outrageous

tweets, a cell phone video that claims to show the girl at the center of the alleged attack being carried, seemingly limp, by her arms and legs. and at least one online video that shows young people callously laughing about it. >> what if that was your daughter? >> but it isn't. >> what if it was? >> if that was my daughter, i wouldn't care. i'd just let her be dead. >> listen to yourself. >> i'm listening to myself fine. >> in about ten years, i'm going to come back. >> ten years. my daughter's going to be getting raped and dead in ten years. >> and that continues for about 12 minutes. he goes on to make offensive one-line comments about rape and talks about the girl as if she was dead, which, zoraida, she is not. >> no, but she appeared to be in those photos. i want to take a really close look at this. what are the charges so far? >> well, here's how it comes out. two 16-year-old boys are charged with rape. one of the two is also charged

with illegal use of a minor in nude material. the attorney general's office says they will be tried by a juvenile court judge without a jury in open court next month. they have been publicly identified by authorities. however, cnn is not yet revealing their names. because cnn's policy is not to release the name of alleged rape victims, we are also not reporting the name of the girl. >> when you do take a look at that tape, there are a lot of voices in the background. there are a lot of faces. are there any other charges, do you think, that will come out of this? >> well, we don't know yet. ohio's attorney general tells me the investigation is not over. authorities are still conducting interviews. he also says he's well aware of the online video and the photo and postings. some online months ago were taken down and some are back online again now. >> we certainly expect that you're going to be following this for us because there will be much more to come. susan candiotti, thank you for that information. some new numbers in and they are staggering.

the number of americans trying to buy a gun hits a record high, and boy, the rush for all those background checks keeping the fbi quite busy. that's next.

in st. louis, a firefighter is a dog's best friend. >> look at this. >> he's fine. the pooch had fallen into an icy lake. thankfully this was a city park lake where the water is only four feet deep so firefighter dan hill got the call. why did he get the call? because he's so tall the water didn't come up so high on him. he put on his waders and brought the shivering shepherd mix back. the dog will be fine. dan hill, nice work. >> i love that story. so soledad o'brien is off today. >> we're going to show the video of that dog again and again and again. the poor dog shivering but he's okay. we're also going to be talking about newtown, connecticut, where students from the sandy hook elementary school, they return to class today. so what's staying the same for them? what's changing? we'll talk about this emotional return to school. also a brand new congress convenes on capitol hill at noon

with 90 new members joining. the question is, is anything else really going to change? their first order of business, tens of billions of dollars in aid for the victims of hurricane sandy. they say they will finally get to that. better late than never, i suppose. meanwhile, of course it got ugly after the old congress failed to act with republicans publicly blasting other republicans. we're going to talk to three new york republicans from the house of representatives, peter king, michael grimm and nan hayworth. some of them had colorful things to say. >> did you see how mad congressman king was yesterday? he was so mad at john boehner, he was so mad at the leadership of his party. now he's saying that he's satisfied, but i can't wait to hear from him. let's get a check of the weather with alexandra steele. >> hi, everyone. good morning to you. yeah, we're seeing incredibly cold temperatures. you know, 2012 will go down in the history books as probably the warmest year on record.

2013 certainly not starting that way. right now straight air temperature, three below in albany, 25 in new york. boston temperatures in the single digits. adding the windchill, it feels like 8 below in boston, so you certainly get the picture. syracuse, making up there, walking out the door feels like 13 below. southeast, certainly very cool for them. on the whole around the country, we're 10 to 15 degrees below average but that's going to change. it's been incredibly cold because this is the jetstream dropping as far south as dallas, texas, allowing that cold canadian air to funnel down. but we're going to watch the jet move north and warm us up so next week at this time temperatures will be about 10 degrees, 5 to 10 degrees above average. so a very cool day. chicago at 30, washington only at 40, but feeling much colder than that with the windchill. so the big picture, only a little rain here in the southeast, guys, but temperatures finally warming up next week. so a couple more cold days and then things on the improve. >> we'll take it.

alexandra steele, thank you. let's get you up to date. new congress gets sworn in today at noon eastern. bunch of firsts in this bunch. the house is getting its first hindu member, it's first female combat members and it's first openly bisexual representative. the question is will john boehner be the house speaker again after today. it's also a big day for sandy hook elementary students. in just a few hours they will return to class for the first time since the shootings in newtown, connecticut. 20 of their schoolmates and six educators were killed. that was less than three weeks ago. the kids will be in class at a converted middle school just a few miles away from there. a record number of screenings for gun buyers. the fbi says it ran nearly three million background checks for gun purchases last month. the bureau says that's a record and that 2012 on the whole set a record with more than 19 million checks. we don't count how many guns are sold in america so that's kind of the only real indicator of gun sales. and it's good news for the

father of molalla youssef. he has a new job. he's working in the education office. her family is with her where she is recovering from gunshot wounds. she was shot in the head by the taliban for defying their order to stop advocating education for girls. starting today starbucks will start selling reusable plastic cups for $1 apiece. starbucks has been criticized over the massive volume of paper waste its cups produce. the chain has sold reusable cups before, but now believes the low price point of this new reusable cup will spark some consumer interest and get people to conserve a little bit. >> ten cents off my coffee will probably -- >> ten cents off your $6 coffee. today's best advice coming up. >> you know it all adds up, right? you're one of them people who gets heartburn and then treats day after day...

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always with best advice. >> today it comes from political comedian kamel bell. >> the best advice i've ever received was from my mom. who my mom said when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. that has served me throughout my life. when people have revealed themselves to be jerks, believe them the first time. or if they reveal themselves to be awesome, believe them the first time. >> love mama's advice. >> that's it for "early start." i'm zoraida sambolin. >> i'm christine romans. "starting point" with john berman and brooke baldwin starts right now. >> good morning, everyone. i'm john berman. >> good morning, i'm brook baldwin. soledad is off this morning. we want to begin with our starting point, a new beginning for the kids of newtown. sandy hook elementary students heading back to school this morning. a look at what's new and how adults, teachers, parents, helping them cope. meanwhile